The Vardø Witch Trials

About The Vardø Witch Trials

Everyone knows Salem. Almost nobody knows Vardø. At the very edge of Europe, above the Arctic Circle, there was a place people believed stood on the boundary between this world… and something else. A place where the Devil could enter the world. In February 1692, the same month the Salem accusations began, the last victim of the Vardø witch trials was being brought to court. Salem was over in little more than a year. This had already been going on for 70 years. 91 people died, most of them women, in Norway's deadliest witch hunt. It began in 1619, when a Scottish sea captain arrived in this isolated community, a coast full of widows. Soon, a terrifying belief took hold, that witches were living among them. Join me as I travel to the remotest parts of Norway, to the places where the women lived, were imprisoned and put to death. And I've been given rare access to the 17th century witch trial court books, with one of the few people alive who can still read them. Whose words were really in those confessions? And why did they kill so many women? A 6-part documentary series from Lisa Williams. Sound design by Craig Edmondson.

Publisher

Lisa Williams

Category

history · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

9 Sept 2026

Latest episode

8 Nov 2026

Latest episodes

8 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   8 Nov 2026

   The Reckoning | EP 7

   How did Norway’s deadliest witch hunt finally come to an end? In the series finale, Professor Liv Helene Willumsen and I follow the last cases and what brought the trials to a stop. Salem’s witch trials are known all over the world, but few people have ever heard of Vardø. So how does a small town live in the shadow of a past like this? On the headland where many of the accused were burned at the stake now stands the Steilneset Memorial. The team behind it tell me how it was made and what it has meant for the town. I hear how the renowned architect Peter Zumthor approached his long, dark corridor, a space for the victims alone. At the end of the corridor, Louise Bourgeois created her last major installation, a chair that burns day and night. By then she was in her nineties, working from her New York flat. I hear about the letters she wrote to Liv Helene, and how that chair came to be. The final word goes to Liv Helene, who has dedicated her life to bringing these voices out of the archives and into the world. This series is dedicated to all the victims of the Finnmark witch trials. Find me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vardowitchtrials Sound design by Craig Edmondson. With thanks to:Professor Liv Helene Willumsen, UiT The Arctic University of NorwayA special mention to the late Solbjørg Ellingsen Fossheim, former state archivist in Tromsø, who in Liv Helene’s words read “all these pages, all these words, all these letters” of the original court records with her.Professor Jennifer McNabb, University of Northern IowaHistorians Rune Blix Hagen and Johan MorkenAuthor Anya BergmanIsa Maline Isene, Vardø MuseumReidun Laura AndreassenTrine Kanter Zerwekh, Norwegian Scenic RoutesThe National Archives in TromsøMark Stenersen, UiT Voices by Anne Mali, Sven, Klara, Olivia, Ingrid, Jon Erik, Anne Elisabeth, Marianne and Gry. The court records in this episode come from Professor Liv Helene Willumsen’s source edition, translated into English by Katjana Edwardsen. Anya Bergman’s novel The Witches of Vardø: https://anyabergman.com/the-witches-of-vardo Written, hosted and produced by Lisa Williams.

2. 

   30 Oct 2026

   No More Names | EP 6

   Host Lisa Williams interviews Professor Liv Helene Willumsen and Anya Bergman about the Vardø witch trials, exploring the fate of a vanished woman and the motivations behind the panic.

3. 

   23 Oct 2026

   The Witches’ Hole | EP 5

   Host Lisa Williams interviews Professor Liv Helene Willumsen and Anya Bergman about the Vardø witch trials, exploring accusations against young girls and the role of Anna Rhodius.

4. 

   15 Oct 2026

   What Could a Witch Do? | EP 4

   Host Lisa Williams interviews Professor Liv Helene Willumsen and Professor Jennifer McNabb about Karen Jonsdatter's struggle against accusations of witchcraft in 17th-century Norway.

5. 

   8 Oct 2026

   Their Master and Admiral | EP 3

   Host Lisa Williams interviews Professor Liv Helene Willumsen and Professor Jennifer McNabb about the 1621 Vardø witch trials and the influence of the Malleus Maleficarum on accusations against women.

6. 

   30 Sept 2026

   Exporting the Devil | EP 2

   Host Lisa Williams interviews Professor Liv Helene Willumsen about the witchcraft triangle connecting Germany, Scotland, and Vardø, revealing how confessions ignited devastating witch trials.

7. 

   30 Sept 2026

   The Wind and the Paper | EP 1

   Host Lisa Williams explores the Vardø witch trials, interviewing Isa Maline Isene and historian Johan Morken to uncover the tragic history of witchcraft accusations in Arctic Norway.

8. 

   9 Sept 2026

   Introducing: The Vardø Witch Trials

   Historian Lisa Williams investigates the 70-year Arctic witch hunt in Vardø, Norway, revealing its deadliest trials and tragic outcomes.

Who has been a guest on The Vardø Witch Trials

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Liv Helene Willumsen
• Anya Bergman
• Jennifer McNabb
• Isa Maline Isene
• Rune Blix Hagen

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

30 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

53 ratings

Contact The Vardø Witch Trials

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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